All Saints Day party 2023
We enjoyed a great parish party, as always! The kids began by playing saint-themed games, collecting candy and trinkets at each station. Then we did a parade of saints around the church and prayed a Litany of Saints at the grotto. More games ensued before the Cake Walk, at which kids win home-baked goods, each of which has the name of a faithfully departed soul attached: we will pray for that person this month. At the end of the party, we each took home a special kit so that as the children eat their Halloween candy throughout the month, they will pray for a soul by name each time.
Yes, I did buy our two doggies a little sweater for these 30-degree morning walks. And, yes, we did all squeal.
My first attempt at biscuits made with freshly milled flour went well enough! Next time, I would make some petite like the recipe calls for, but I'd make some with double dough for the older members of the family who like a large biscuit like is sold in cans at the grocery store.
Nov. 4: We enjoyed perfect weather for the annual parish carnival today! I have pictures of only one kiddo because all the others were running around independently.
When a cement truck makes a surprise visit directly in front of your house, you stop bothering trying to teach the homeschool lessons.
November 7, 2023: The day my last baby son, David, age 6, learned that he really cannot marry his Mama . . . Even if Daddy dies? . . . Even if become a grown-up?
“Never?”
“No, not ever, but sons can always visit their mommies as often as they want.”
And then he crawled in my lap, hugged me, and got a little teary.
And now I will take my sad little heart away. If you’re a Boy Mama, you know!
For my fellow tubie friends . . . Inspiration!
"André Rieu invited a 15-year-old singer to perform onstage at his huge concert in the Netherlands. Emma is not your average high school student, she has a rare stomach disease but also has a remarkably beautiful and angelic voice. She showed a rare grace onstage, totally unexpected for a 15-year-old. A video of her passionate performance went viral getting 11 million views, and it's not surprising, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when she was done. Emma’s stomach is paralyzed and she can only eat through a tube going into her stomach. Rieu said that the teen with a “beautiful voice” had a dream of being a singer and wasn’t going to let that slow her down. Emma absolutely knocked it out of the park, displaying powerful honesty and emotion through her singing, which was simply stunning to watch. Watch video in comments below."
I tried my hand at freshly milled flour applesauce muffins, as the kids were not in love with the texture of diced apple in the muffins last time. Each muffin has as much protein as an egg plus 4 grams fiber. They were a hit!
Idyllic neighborhood play among these little friends!
Congratulations to Thomas on his First Confession! Look at his huge smile. Given that he had his Confirmation and First Holy Communion at four years old due to his cancer, this is his last sacrament of youth!
I wuv our wee pups.
This (totally clean) SNL skit about America's ridiculous systems of weights and measures had me laughing, especially as a homeschool mother because I'm mired in teaching all these nonsensical systems of measure to my elementary aged children, while half the time I'm secretly looking up the info on my phone!
“Mama, I’m going to sit outside and read Angel Food.”
(‘Angel Food for Boys and Girls’ by TAN)
I have tried not to post political things for a decade, but I'm at my breaking point. I just can't even.
Bishop Strickland relieved of pastoral governance of US diocese
Happy 15th birthday, Mary!
We had the most fun yesterday celebrating this young woman! Mary is helpful to her family, responsible at all her pet-sitting and babysitting jobs, she mysteriously loves math and physics, and is a beautiful performer of piano, violin, and organ.
Beautiful story of charity at our local hospital. If you click through to the video of Jane’s Fund paying off a family’s mortgage the day before their child died, that social worker was Thomas’s social worker during treatment.
Five months for this sparkling Charlotte teenager to go from diagnosis to death.
Abrupt way to say it? Yes.
Truth? Also, yes.
The Good, the Bad, and the Always Real. Sometimes, like in Jane Harrell’s case, it’s a mixture of all three.
Beautiful 17-year-old Jane was diagnosed with DIPG in March of 2021. Some of you reading this might have just gasped. You know those four letters. You know DIPG has no cure, and no survival rate. To hear those letters attached to your child is to start a fight that, so far, only has one ending. DIPG. DIPG. Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. A highly aggressive brain tumor. It appears in an area of the brain that controls many of the body’s vital functions. Breathing. Hearing. Balance, and gait. Blood pressure. Heart rate. All those things, and more, affected.
To understand how Jane’s family is now helping others, you have to first understand their daughter. They say she remains the quiet force behind the charitable good occurring in her name, she just leads from a perch high above.
So let's go back in time a bit. To when Jane started having vision loss, frequent falls, and dizziness. She gets on Google and begins to diagnose herself. She decides, from internet research, she has a brain tumor. She pleads with her mom on the way to an MRI scan not to proceed.
“You and dad don’t deserve the pain of a kid with a brain tumor,” she says. “It’s too much for one family.”
Mom Jane, who gave her own name to her daughter, smiles and reassures Little Jane. She tells her she doesn’t have a tumor and the scan will be fine. Mama Jane is not only a mother of four—Jane being the oldest—but also a doctor herself. She doesn't think it's that serious. So, she’s stunned when called back from the waiting room and the radiologist tells her a tumor in her daughter’s brainstem needs urgent attention.
From there, the fight begins. The Janes go to radiation together.
“10:20am each morning, for six weeks,” says Mama Jane. “We share a waiting room with Breast cancer Debbie, prostate cancer Doug, and lung cancer Johnny. All over the age of 65, all radiating for a cure. They share. We listen. Do we belong here? Is it a mistake? The bell rings. Another patient celebrates victory. Yet, neurosurgeons and oncologists around the country have the same conclusion about Jane: St. Jude’s to help her as she dies. We end up with ER visits at 3am, Mountain Dews, and pizza. 911 calls. ‘Please don’t wake the neighbors with sirens and lights.’ That’s what I think. Whose life are we living? Jane chooses no feeding tubes. No shunts. No breathing machines. She gets to a point she can no longer climb the steps to her bedroom. A broken bladder. How long can one survive on Acai rainbow bowls and laugh at enemas and catheters? Jane does. She’s too sick for Make-a-Wish, but has one ask: One more ordinary day at school.”
One doctor tells her she can go, another says no.
“What is there to lose with months left to live?” Mama Jane says. “We go. She laughs, cries, vomits, and sleeps all the way to that final day of school. Extraordinary hours. Hugs. Thank you’s. Pinky promises instead of goodbyes.”
Though Mama Jane is a brilliant woman who knows how to read an MRI, pediatric cancer rocks you. Twelve hours after diagnosis, hearing the pediatric neurosurgeon saying, “inoperable,” and clinical trials only to “help those who come next,” Mama Jane and Little Jane are lying in a bed.
“She asks, ‘Why me?’ Mama Jane says. “She says, ‘I thought I was going to change the world.’ We stare at the ceiling together. I say to her, ‘You will and you are. You are the brightest light, and God is undefeated.’ Then, silence.”
Near the end of the five months, Jane tells her mom, “Hospice beds in dining rooms are for old people. You can’t ruin the childhoods for Piper, Max, and Sam [her younger siblings]. I need to die in a hospital.”
It's that wisdom, bravery, and refusal to feel sorry for herself during a time of dark despair, that is the spark which planted the seed for Jane's Fund.
This past January, the Charlotte-based 501©3 was established. It is new. You'll see on its Facebook page a whopping 89 followers. But since January—in ten full short months—Jane and Mike Harrell have poured more than $1-million dollars back into the community. It’s a “trust-based philanthropy” movement. They’re helping other families who have lost a child or are going through hardship in our community, and doing so by building relationships with hospitals, social workers, and schools.
In fact—read this next sentence closely—Jane’s Fund has paid off completely, or paid significant portions of, SEVEN mortgages for families caring for a dying child. It has supported rent, car payments, and home safety upgrades for six more.
Jane’s Fund also bought computers for 800 graduating seniors in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to go to college.
Find out more on its website, here >> http://shinelikejane.org
And, lose your heart with this video of a family finding out their house is paid off, the day before their own 17-year-old passes away >> https://vimeo.com/869657917?share=copyout
Many of the families Jane’s Fund has helped, as it turns out, are also #MollysKids.
Writing this on a random Tuesday morning to share with you. When you find good, share it. Ten months, giving away $1.2-million. That's something to shout. Can’t wait to see what’s next for this determined Charlotte family, being led by their daughter's spirit.
In the meantime, hug your kids. (Or if they're already at school and have a phone, maybe text them. Parker just got an unexpected, "I love you.")
Please, Mama Jane and Mike, keep us updated on what your new foundation is doing and the remarkable in Jane’s name.
-Molly
The boys found this large orange spider in the backyard. I believe it is not venemous, but it still made me shiver.
Fall masquerade dance 2023
.jpeg)
I've been having pretty good success picking one morning per week to make a really big batch of pancakes, which serve as breakfast for several days over the week. The younger boys also enjoy them as a quick snack they can grab independently. I LOVE the nutrition.
One pancake (1/4 cup batter = 4" pancake) has as much protein and fat as an egg . . . plus 17 grams whole grain, 3 grams fiber, and all the vitamins inherent in FRESHLY MILLED FLOUR, such as 14% RDA of calcium (equivalent of 4 oz milk) and 7% RDA of iron (equivalent of 3 cups raw spinach). If all my kids eat is one of my homemade pancakes (no eggs, no sausage, no fruit), I'm still *so* happy and satisfied about their breakfast!
Thirteen days.
It took thirteen days for my youngest three sons to notice I had at least six inches cut off my hair. Tonight Thomas (😎 was brushing my hair for at least five minutes while I was reading aloud when he paused abruptly: “Mama? Why is your hair shorter than usual?”
Thomas (8) wakes up daily to this blue basket with vitamins and supplements in it for him to take upon waking. Sometimes Mama feels jaunty and does funny things, like setting up Sloth to deliver them.
Nov. 23: Thank you to the health care workers who are missing Thanksgiving to work today! You are not forgotten by 8-year-old Thomas!
This morning at breakfast, the three little boys were discussing Thanksgiving traditions. When a debate broke out about whether anybody works on Thanksgiving, Thomas immediately corrected his brothers: “Everyone at the hospitals is working today!”
My heart squeezed that our 8-year-old knows that so deeply, his having spent at least one of all major holidays inpatient. I know that our friends at Levine’s are all working with big smiles and bringing cheer to their patients, regardless of their sacrifices.
Happy Thanksgiving from Atlanta!
David started reading! It is like a light switch just turned on this week! For all of Kindergarten and the first three months of first grade, he basically couldn’t even read any three-letter words, then today he read an entire story (nine sentences) in All About Reading. Yay yay yay!!!
Our beautiful Margaret working on her art . . .
Does Tilly have enough princess pillows? (The answer is never.)
I tried my hand at baking French bread tonight with baked chicken thighs, steamed broccoli, and homemade fries. Yum!
With lows tonight possibly in the upper teens, I am at least prepared for a two-dog night.
We have loved listening to FREE daily episodes of saint dramatizations from The Merry Beggars this school year. Apparently, they also offer a FREE "audio Advent calendar" in which each day during December you are emailed the next ten minutes of a dramatization of The Christmas Carol by Dickens. I'm sharing in case anyone else wants to sign up!
Nov. 29: In a pensive mood . . . I lived it, yet my mind still can't reconcile the horror of three years ago today versus our strong and stable Thomas now. Today is the anniversary of Thomas's dramatic crisis of vomiting blood when he lost a quarter of his blood volume in a couple of minutes. We didn't yet know that his inner organs were necrosing. (Necrosis: death of body tissue when too little blood flows to the tissue.) The pain Thomas would endure over the next six days is truly chilling as he was dying from the inside, but nobody knew until he was rushed into the OR for life-saving exploratory surgery. To have held Thomas in my arms while he vomited up so much blood is a trauma (one of many) that changed me, presumably forever, to someone more stoic, more stubborn, and cooler/colder than the old one. I'm so glad Thomas does not remember most of those moments. I'm grateful for the former military man who was Thomas's nurse that day: of all the days, Thomas needed a really big, strong, aggressive man that day to get the emergency attention he needed. Just in the last few months, Thomas's regular blood work has started to look almost entirely normal. Modern medical care is truly amazing.
I tried a new-to-me recipe from Bread Beckers and a new-to-me method: creating my own Pullman loaf pan in an effort to get better sandwich bread. Success! The recipe I’ve been using for the last month is delicious, but too tender to stand up to the rigors of being a sandwich. This time around, it seems a stronger loaf and tasted great. I love taking these first baby steps to hone a new skill.
When I assign my ten-year-old Joseph to teach math to David, Joseph is much more creative than this tired mom, and David responds enthusiastically. Joseph invents stories and draws them on the whiteboard. For every answer correct or done quickly and cheerfully, David earns things like arrows, bombs, battering rams, or more soldiers to advance in the story invented. It is so cool to watch the boy energy!
Nov. 30: No pics, but Chris, John, and another dad and son attended the Morgan Evans concert!
No comments:
Post a Comment